Fine! The Hindi lines are approximate as they depend on the memory but translation should be helpful. These couplets are taken from great Hindi poet Tulsidasa’s work, Kavitawali. It shows Shiva in many lights; generous and magnanimous to all but tough on evils, compassionate, omnipotent and omnipresent, sensitive to his worshippers, provider of all material and physical things. Many people may interpret Shiva to be communist. Wrongly though.

The fundamental argument about Shiva being generous towards devils and Ishvara of all comes from him giving boons to all. The most notable is he giving boon to Ravana. But this is true for almost all Hindu deities, including Vishnu, Brahma and Shakti. The fact is that in Hindu genesis the deities and devils are cousins being born respectively from sisters, Aditi and Diti. The basic reason for this has to do with cleverness of Hindus where one part of Trinity-plus-Shakti gives boons and other takes them away. Sure, but a long after, in almost all cases. This appears good marketing strategy in ancient times from present consciousness. Hindus were tinkers too!

The relationship among the deities and devils is the consequence of the eternal laws of constant separation, segregation and proliferation in Hinduism. Therefore, all are related except outcastes if sacred texts are to be interpreted in the strictest sense. The Hindus and their world have evolved from a law—the law of affinity; a relational relationship of separation after the pre-existing Union. Deities are for good and devils are for bad, eternally: theory of constant creation and annihilation.

Shiva has a majestic appearance being white and physically very robust. Even though he is the national God for Hindus of all castes, regions and language, he is fully Northern Indian in nature. The most intriguing aspect of Shiva’s appearance is his Trident and his two-headed pallet drum. Trident is a kind of memory and virtually a sexual possession. No Hindu, who believes in Sanatana Dharma and primarily worships Shiva, can get rid of this intriguing object. The drum is for converting people and making them better—a kind of creativity. But still the two features do not represent necessarily order and chaos. Snakes surrounding Shiva are the symbolic representation of asceticism of Shiva; the yogi Shiva. The crescent at his head-top tells at the power of Shiva; the lord of the Universe.

Shiva is mostly worshipped in the form of Shivalingum and not in human form. The normal Shivallingum is black in color with inverted phallus protruding out of Vagina. The phallus represents Shiva, while yoni represents Parvati, and black color Kali. What it may mean is that Shiva and Kali are absolute truth and Shiva and Parvati are absolute beauty—Satyam Shivam Sundaram. This interpretation of Shivalingum makes noted Indian psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar’s assertion that Shiva is serially monogamous incorrect. The fact is that the truth and beauty have to exist simultaneously and therefore Kali and Parvati are the simultaneous reality in Shiva’s life.  

There are many other forms of Shivalingum as well: one having only phallus telling Shiva is the first deity in the Universe, while other having four parts at the bottom representing Brahma and ten parts in the middle representing ten incarnations of Vishnu with Shiva’s phallus at the top. The more probable directions for the Shivalingum is the narrower part facing East or the North East; Shiva’s abode in Kailash. When the narrower part of the Shivalingum faces East one can worship Sun; a form of Vishnu by offering water and the worship of such Shivalingum represents the worship of Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu simultaneously.

Kali trampling on recumbent Shiva and she feeding Shiva as a boy may hint that Kali is the ego of Shiva. Impossibility! Shiva himself represents id, ego and superego of Hindus simultaneously and therefore is complete himself. He requires Kali as a sexual partner to continue the sexual creation and for various other functionalities. Kali is nude but this is again very shrewd representation. Since Kali is nude and while representing her, genitals are to be hidden. Brahmins did it with garland of shove heads around her breasts and chopped hands of devils around her waist. It’s altogether a different thing that Brahmins imported some elementary form of Kali from aboriginals.

Sure, these are the parts of devil but in reality they represent all with whom Brahmins are displeased. This is the most sophisticated representation of Hindu capitalism: Ishvara will not please on anyone with whom high Brahmins displease. In spite of all the hymns portraying her as a revolutionary deity, the thing that needs to be emphasized is that Kali is a preserving deity. She punishes all those who offend Hindus, particularly Brahmins. She also preserves the caste system and is as puritan as Sita and Radha are. Kali being black and Shiva and Parvati being white in color tell at the many word interpretation of Hinduism, about politics and cerebral non-universal voting options being present in ancient India. According to Hinduism, all possible paths are probable and there is unity in diversity; the Sarva Dharma Sambhave.

This needs to be reemphasized that Shiva is no communist deity. Whenever he gives boon to historical person the person has to be good and die-hard believer in Hinduism. Sure, in mythology he can give boon to all. This is the majority Hindu belief that Shiva pleases only on good and on good Hindus. If Ramayana is to be interpreted as per this author then Ravana is a good person converted by Rama himself. In Valmiki’s Ramayana, Shiva and Brahma giving boons to Ravana imply this. But early Brahmins suspected Shiva. Also, Shiva is no Brahminical deity in appearance. Therefore, Brahmins mostly prohibited the human form worship of Shiva and instead proposed rudra-abhisekh of Shiva. All the offerings make Shiva a Brahminical deity as all procedures are Brahminical in nature. One should remember that no God, God-incarnate and Prophet are communists.